>> thanks, jeff. sure. see you at 6:00. "nightly news" is next. on our broadcast tonight -- highest alert. the cdc has now increased the emergency response to the ebola epidemic reserved only for the worst outbreaks. >> hurricane warning in hawaii. a rare occurrence. two storms in a row. one right behind the other. and tonight millions are preparing. >> flight breach. how did a woman with no ticket, no boarding pass and no business flying on a plane manage to get on board and fly to l.a.? >> and an aspirin a day does it dramatically reduce the risk of cancer? dr. nancy snyderman tonight with the big medical headline. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. the centers for disease control tonight elevated the ebola virus

to level 1 status. and here's what that means. it is their highest level of mobilization reserved for their largest scale response requiring an agency wide effort. because the outbreak is now officially out of control. and because it now extends to nigeria and has the potential to affect so many more lives. so far the ebola virus has taken 932 lives and this is a major escalation and a big measure of the fear of it spreading around the world. it is where we begin tonight with nbc's kate snow outside emory university hospital in atlanta where the two americans are being treated. kate, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the centers for disease control is basically saying "we need all hands on deck now." this is an alert that mostly affects them internally but it points to how serious this epidemic has now become. the cdc emergency operations center has moved to what they

call a level one activation, that's the highest level. and means hundred of people at the cdc working on other projects can now shift their focus to the ebola outbreak. it was prompted, the cdc said, by the spread of ebola in nigeria and potential to affect many lives. in liberia, contaminated bodies are being dumped in the street. >> it is out of control in the west african countries. >> reporter: a spanish priest is being medevaced to spain for treatment, the first ebola patient ever treated in europe. in western nations protocols are different than in africa. this is the ambulance seen around the world. you have been on this team for four years. >> yeah. >> reporter: lead paramedic gail stallings was driving this rig when they picked up dr. kent brantly saturday. yesterday she was in back. that's her wheeling in nancy writebol. the two patients did they talk to you? >> they did. they were both talking to us. >> reporter: i think we had this image that they were going to be unconscious? >> i think that's the biggest misconception with so much of it. we assume the movie "contact" and "outbreak" and we assume everybody is going to be these

horror show, near-zombie people, that will take over the world. and it is not anywhere close to that. >> reporter: john aravalo was the other paramedic in full protective gear yesterday. >> you just go into it like this. the ambulance was lined with plastic now disinfected. you decontaminated this unit -- >> for four hours. >> twice. >> yeah. >> reporter: nancy writebol was wearing clothing, hazmat suit, face mask and then wrapped in another nonpermable layer. >> we don't want fluid contact. >> reporter: even with all of those precaution s they're checking themselves. how often do you have to check? >> every day. >> reporter: just like everyone treating the ebola patients. >> we try to have a nurse present in the room as needed. >> translator: nbc news has learned nancy writebol and brantly are in rooms on two side of the isolation unit. doctors change into protective gear here, family members visit through the glass. the family members, sons of nancy writebol are here, visited her through the glass for a few minutes earlier. they say that she is doing well. continuing to fight, but very

tired from her journey. her husband remains in liberia, brian, he wants to come here, but he may need medical screening because he too was exposed to ebola. brian. >> kate snow starting us off from atlanta tonight. kate, thanks. >> we move now to the with weather making news tonight. the governor of hawaii issued a state of emergency for something very rare in that state, two hurricanes. one right behind the other. hawaii hasn't taken a direct hit from a hurricane in over two decades. tonight, there is a run on everything sfrum food -- everything from food to water to gasoline. as these warnings get posted. nbc's jacob rascone is there. >> reporter: across the aloha state, a desperate rush to prepare. two hurricanes bearing down on the islands. shoppers finding only empty shelves. >> i was here to try to get some more stuff. but, it sound like they're getting -- it's all gone. i don't know what we're going to do. >> reporter: the last hurricane to make landfall tore through hawaii in 1992. the category 4 storm destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed six people.

hawaiians are preparing for the worst. iselle is expected to arrive thursday night and right on its heels, hurricane julio with winds up to 95 miles per hour. >> the one-two punch could be serious. because weakened by a cell, julio could potentially do quite a bit of damage. >> reporter: along the east shore, this woman stocks up on ice and water. she says even smaller tropical storms deliver devastating blows here. flooding homes and cars, cutting off her section of the island. >> if the roads flood enough to close them we are stranded out here because this is our only way out. >> reporter: on oahu's south shore, thousands of tourists. some who spent months planning a vacation in paradise, now hunkering down, planning to ride out the storms. hurricane iselle expected to hit the main island on thursday. schools there and in maui going to be closed for the day. and hurricane julio which is expected to pass to the north of the island will be here over the weekend. brian.

>> jacob rascone on oahu for us tonight. >> jacob, thanks. back on the mainland, a flight breach is renewing questions tonight about airport security. how was a woman with no ticket, no boarding pass, somehow able to get through security onto a commercial airplane and fly to los angeles? nbc's halle jackson live for us tonight at l.a.x. halle, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. that passenger is in court tonight where she is pleading no contest. her sentence suspended as long as she stays away from l.a.x. here unless she has a ticket. but the tsa and other investigators are still trying to determine how she boarded the plane to this airport without a ticket. 62-year-old marilyn hartman's flight from san jose to los angeles landed her in jail. arrested after a southwest airline employee discovered she never had a ticket for the flight in the first place. law enforcement sources tell nbc news she got past the tsa

document checker, where travelers must show their i.d. and boarding pass, by blending in with a group of other people. she did go through a security screening, which is why san jose officials insist other travelers were never in danger. >> the public safety was not compromised in any way. because the passenger did undergo screening by tsa officials. >> reporter: this security breach comes less than 4 months after a teenage stowaway at the same airport hopped a fence and crawled into a wheel well. >> san jose has training issues that i think it needs to fix. we're fortunate this woman was harmless. but we might not be so lucky in the future. >> reporter: officials say hartman has tried to board planes without tickets several times before. but now she faces a misdemeanor stowaway charge which carries up to 6 months in jail and possible $1,000 fine. >> it sounds like she just got lucky. >> reporter: southwest calls this incident "rare and

unusual." the tsa says it is working to modify the layout of the check point to prevent another incident like this one. southwest says its priority is the safety and security of its customers. and says they're working with the other agencies involved in this investigation including the tsa. brian. >> halle jackson at l.a.x. for us tonight. halle, thanks. >> the largest breach of personal data ever in the internet age is prompting new warnings about online security after hackers from russia stole over 1 billion user names and passwords. we get more on this tonight from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the disclosure of the huge internet security breach, the biggest yet is the hallway buzz at today's hacker convention in las vegas. experts say a russian gang acquired 1.2 billion internet records, combinations of user names and passwords and half a billion e-mail adresses. a milwaukee security expert, alex holden discovered the breach and found his own logins in the mass of stolen data. user names and passwords, he says, can unlock a universe of personal information. >> if the bad guys turn this

massive breach against the financial institutions, social media, e-mail accounts or anything else that they can monetize, we may have a devastating effect. >> reporter: what's vulnerable? any website that requires a user name and password to log on from banks, businesses, shopping sites to social media. with stolen log-ins, hackers could get a credit card and social security numbers. one immediate fix, change your internet passwords so the stolen data becomes out of date and useless. but for the long term, some security experts say, web sites should move away from traditional logins. i think password need to die a quick death. passwords are an old technology. and they're not very good at identifying people. >> reporter: among alternatives, tokens like this that broadcast a constantly changing password or systems that send a text message with a temporary password that quickly expires. there are even internet services that automatically change your

passwords for you but without some new systems and better security, experts say, hack athaks will keep getting bigger. brian. >> thank you, pete. >> pete williams in our washington newsroom tonight. >> the body of u.s. army two-star major general harold greene will be brought back to this country tomorrow, two days after he was shot to death in kabul, in an insider attack by an afghan soldier. greene, who is being remembered at every domestic u.s. post where he served, was the highest ranking member of the u.s. military to die in the line of duty in afghanistan. and for that matter since the vietnam war. his remains will arrive at dover air force base in delaware. general greene, holder of three masters degrees, and ph.d. was 55 years old. sergeant bowe bergdahl, former p.o.w., released by the taliban in may in a prisoner exchange, was questioned today about his circumstances of his capture in afghanistan in '09. questioning took place at ft. sam houston texas. bergdahl was not charged and

advised of his rights before the today's interview. the key question whether he abandoned his post before he was captured. >> it is already the worst and the most tense standoff between this country and russia since the cold war. and now it has worsened still. vladamir putin now retaliating against the u.s. and other countries that have imposed sanctions on russia over this situation in ukraine. we get more on this tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: with the fighting escalating between ukraine's military and pro-russian separatists, and russians training across the border, vladamir putin is striking back against the west economic sanctions, today banning food imports to russia for one year. food and vegetables from europe. beef and pork from australia. soy beans and chicken from the u.s. up to $1.3 billion worth. america's third largest poultry producer, sanderson farms of lowell, mississippi, is preparing to take a big hit. what do you think is going on

here? what do you think vladamir putin is doing? >> i think it is politics. he is searching for however he can retaliate against the united states and west. and he's picked agriculture. >> reporter: sanderson farms is already lining up new customers. but russia relies on imports for 40% of its food. so experts say putin is only hurting his own country. >> he believes in matching force with force. he always retaliates. but in the end he is only making life more difficult for the people of russia. >> reporter: and putin won't stop at food imports. he is expected to ban european airlines, lufthansa, air france, british airways from flying over siberia. the shortest, cheapest route to asia. even though the western sanctions are already hurting all sectors of russia's collapsing economy. this week, aeroflot, a subsidiary of the russian national airline had to suspend flights to crimea unable to get boeing parts. thousands of russian tourists are stranded in bulgaria and elsewhere as their travel agencies go bankrupt.

tonight, the biggest worry for the u.s. and europe is whether putin will stop at a trade war or actually order his troops into ukraine. and tonight, the president said that the sanctions are working as intended. brian. >> andrea mitchell reporting for us tonight. andrea, thanks. and still ahead this evening -- the latest discovery regarding aspirin as a cancer preventer. the other big medical headline tonight from dr. nancy snyderman. >> later, an unlikely route to the mound and great life story. how a kid refused to give up on his dreams found his way to the majors.

we mentioned this earlier, big health news headline tonight involves aspirin, which of course, millions of people take every day to reduce their risk of having a heart attack or stroke. there could be added benefits. doctors say aspirin could reduce the risk of certain cancers, but there are also concerns of course about side effects potentially. our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has our report.

>> reporter: a study in a european journal "annals of oncology" found that the benefits of taking aspirin outweigh risks when it comes to preventing cancer. analyzing more than 200 studies the authors found a significant decrease in the number of cancers of the digestive system, esophagus, stomach and colorectal. the biggest benefit was for people between ages 50 and 65 who took a daily low-dose aspirin for at least five to ten years. but some experts we talked to today question whether it is right for everyone. it is a small pill that could have big consequences. internal bleeding is a well-known and serious side effect. so here is a starting off point for the conversation with your doctor. how much aspirin should i take? at what age should i start? when can i stop? what are the risks? and of course, make sure to discuss any family history for cancer. that family history should allow

everyone to individualize the pros and cons of whether to take aspirin. and whether you want to or not, it is your family history. so for me, my family history, there is a strong incidence of cancer of the colon. so i have already made that decision. but for me it was personal and one that i did not take lightly. brian. it is the ultimate individualization of medicine. >> so still a wonder drug. but with that in mind it is still a drug? >> anything you put in your mouth is, want to remind people when you think about taking aspirin, the cheapest best stuff that crumbles digests faster and works really well. skip the fancy stuff. >> all right, dr. nancy snyderman. thank you. as always. >> you bet. >> we are back in a moment with an emergency on a train platform, no time to think, and the people who stood there and did the right thing.

human kind has only landed

human kind has only landed on so many extraterrestrial body but never a comet until now.

the european space agency's "rosetta" spacecraft has traveled ten years and 4 billion miles to get to a comet hurdling through space at 35,000 miles an hour. they're flying in tandem now prior to what is hoped to be a gentle landing on the comet in november. what could go wrong? the comet is 2 1/2 miles wide and has its own gravitational pull. eroni kumana has died. and without him the united states might never have had a president named john f. kennedy. when kennedy's navy patrol boat, pt-109, went down in the pacific, 1943, kumana and another man from the solomon islands found j.f.k. struggling to survive in the water. the two men risked japanese attack by delivering to the allies a message for help, kennedy scrawled on a coconut. coincidentally, it was 71 years ago today. the coconut was later encased in plastic and kept on the president's desk in the oval office as a reminder, kumana

cherished a bust of president kennedy given to him as a gift until the day he died at age 93. >> the pope is advising young people not to waste too much of their lives on their electronic devices. while he says the internet is a gift from god and keeps an active twitter account himself, he also warns time on earth is a gift from god and advises young people not to squander it on distractions. >> incredible scene of quick-thinking, level heads working together in perth, australia. when a morning commuter rushing for a train got his leg jammed between the train and the platform. everyone on the train got off and joined those on the platform to rock the 43-ton passenger car away from the platform which freed and saved the man's leg. gives you faith in humanity. >> another incredible scene in westwood, southern california. today was claim your car day on the campus of ucla after the great water main flood.

340 cars covered in mud, rendered undrivable, totaled. reunited with their owners after several parking facilities were flooded by 20 million gallons of water. ♪ ♪ that's our song they're playing. that is our guy, friend lester holt, becomes an honorary root tonight at a taping of "the tonight show with jimmy fallon" for air this evening. that's lester slapping the bass. he was allowed to sit in with the house band the roots. he has always slapped a mean bass, but never for an audience quite this large. we are looking forward to it. >> when we come back after a break, one young pitcher's unlikely path to the pros.

finally here tonight, art school has never traditionally been considered a ticket to major league baseball. but that is exactly where a hard-throwing young pitcher started throwing hard enough to catch the eye of the scouts who eventually signed him to the pros. this is an amazing story about an unlikely life journey. we get our report tonight from nbc's joe fryar.

>> reporter: at a cozy minor league ballpark in elizabethton, tennessee, the minnesota twins grow their rookies under the watchful eye of loyal fans. they are your boys, right? >> they are my boys. >> reporter: those boys come and go. but few come with a story like the big guy in the bullpen. >> now we have got a new pitcher that pitches 100 miles an hour. >> reporter: at 6'6", 240 pounds, brandon paulson is not built like your typical pitcher. >> first thing you see is his size. it is like he is a walking car. >> reporter: like a car his fastball can reach triple digits. >> it's not that it is effortless, but it is not difficult. it's really easily repeatable. >> reporter: for brandon paulson the path to the pros was rather unconventional. not even two years ago he was ready to hang up his baseball glove for good. he was working for his family's excavating company where the big rigs were easier to control than his pitches. but dad told him not to give up on his dreams.

>> try to do good at baseball. if it doesn't work out. if you want to work, work is always there. >> reporter: paulson still played for fun which opened the door to a baseball scholarship at, of all places, the academy of art university in san francisco. do you paint? >> no. >> reporter: sculpt? >> no. >> reporter: but eventually with a lot of coaching he became an artist with the ball. improving his speed and control. >> whoo! >> 99 miles an hour. >> whoo! >> reporter: before long the bleachers at his summer league games were filled with scouts and radar guns. in the end this undrafted 24-year-old signed with the twins. >> very nice. >> he has been blessed with the most important thing that's arm strength. but now what can he do with the arm strength? can he apply it in the game and get people out? >> my goal is to just get better each day. stay healthy. and try to work my way up. >> reporter: climbing the ladder the only way he knows how -- fast. joe fryer, nbc news, elizabethton, tennessee.

>> how about that? as a way to end our broadcast on a wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i am brian williams. we certainly hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. i don't feel that there was any need to alert the public. >> right now at 6:00. she snuck into the airport, getting through not one but two checkpoints. we investigate. did both the airport and the tsa try to keep it a secret? >> a developing story. the serial stow away in court today. some two hours ago, marilyn hartman, this woman, pled no

contest to boarding a flight without a ticket. she made it to l.a.x. where officers arrested her. our investigative unit first broke the story yesterday. why did they wait so long to reveal the security breach. why the wol could face more charges here locally, but we begin with tony kovaleski about what he's learned about why it did take so long for the public to find out. >> as we know, there are three parts to airport security, the document check, security screening and the boarding check at the gate. yesterday we were surprised to learn marilyn hartman found her way around two of the three security checks. tonight we learn the airport and tsa intended to keep that information a secret. when was the airport aware of the security breach? >> the airport was aware about midnight that night that an individual was properly screened but was not